Self Conclusion
by RevolCram
Summary: The trick is that you're never supposed to act on it. No matter how unbearable this misery gets. Based on the song. A slightly new take on how Sonic and Tails met. Oneshot, rated T for dark themes.


_A/N: So just yesterday I got into this song called "Self Conclusion" by The Spill Canvas. I have to admit I'd never heard of them before, but this song really made some kind of impact on me. I love it. And I could not go any longer without writing a fanfic dedicated to it._

_Despite the song starring a male and a female and hinting at the beginnings of perhaps a romantic relationship between them, one of the first things which came to mind was the song being an unusual way for Sonic and Tails to meet and form a brotherly relationship from. So here it is._

_Feedback is greatly appreciated - positive and negative!  
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**(Sonic is around 13/14, Tails about 6/7, but obviously with the maturity of someone much older.)**

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><p><em>We all flirt with the tiniest notion<br>Of self-conclusion in one simplified motion  
>But the trick is that you're never supposed to act on it<br>No matter how unbearable this misery gets._

- Chorus to "Self-Conclusion"._  
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><p>There was someone there. Why? It was a late night - so late it was almost morning - and the air was an odd mixture of warm with an occassional cool breeze, not in the slightest bit pleasant. He had specifically chosen this location and this time because he was sure no one would be around. The cliff was uncomfortably high and the view from it was not as appealing as others not too far away. So why was there someone there?<p>

Miles Prower continued to approach the cliff edge regardless. It wasn't what he would have preferred, but he supposed it wouldn't really make a difference. The familiar shaky feeling began in his legs and hands, followed by the nervous increase in his heartbeat. A usual reaction to someone he didn't know. Strangers were not to be trusted and Miles knew that perhaps more than anyone.

But this stranger was going to play an important part in his life, and they didn't even know it yet. They hadn't noticed the young fox ascending the hill which slowly turned into the cliff. The figure was turned away, facing out to the darkened sea. There was nothing to see but water. The cliff curved from the top down into the sea in a sure C-shape, so even the waves crashing against the foot of the rocks couldn't be seen. Miles always thought it seemed as if the cliff was placed exactly on the edge of the world.

_Stupid stranger_, he cursed silently, _ruining everything. Everyone always ruins everything._

He wasn't going to stop now, though. Not now. There was no way he could turn around and go back to that life, not even for one day. No matter what the stranger did, Miles could still carry out what he wanted to, uninterrupted. Clenching his muscles to stop the nervous shaking as he drew closer, Miles got ready to feign confidence and dominance.

"Excuse me sir," he said, projecting his voice into the night. The figure turned, revealing himself to be a hedgehog; a few years older than Miles. His stance was comfortable and steady, as if he planned on staying a while. No chance of coming back later, then.

Miles took a deep breath. It didn't matter what he said now, or how he said it. It wouldn't make a difference. He took a couple of steps closer to the hedgehog and carried on.

"I have plans to die tonight." He stated bluntly, nodding towards the cliff edge. "I didn't expect anyone to be here. But you are, and you're directly in my way."

Miles had expected the hedgehog's reaction to be shock or horror. Possibly - as everyone else - a smirk, accompanied by a "good, go ahead!". But the expression on this person's face barely altered, his brow perhaps sinking slightly as if requesting Miles to tell more. The fox could predict he would soon get judged or talked out of it, or called stupid or selfish. He wanted none of those, just to be allowed to get on with it. He looked straight into the stranger's inquisitive eyes.

"I bet you're gonna say it's not right," Miles guessed coldly.

The hedgehog shifted a little at this, turning around properly to take in this young individual. He folded his arms and moved his weight to one leg, maintaining the eye contact Miles had created.

"Excuse _me_ kid," the hedgehog replied, making Miles wince at the apparant beginnings of mocking toward him. "Do you have even the slightest idea of what you just said to me?"

Miles frowned. He wasn't an idiot, so why was this guy treating him like one? Maybe he was just patronising as Miles' young age was obvious. But Miles knew he was smarter than most people his age, and he thought that would have shown in his words and the way he said them. Apparantly not.

"And how about who you're talking to? Do you even know that?"

Miles' fists curled. He had at the least expected taunting and name-calling, but not this. This was worse. He _knew_ he was smart but this guy seemed to be thinking otherwise. Miles didn't have time to get annoyed by this stranger's patronising attitude, though. He began to pretend like it wasn't affecting him.

"I don't care what you think," he insisted through gritted teeth, "you don't even know me."

The hedgehog's expression seemed to soften slightly. He could see right through Miles' act and could see that what he was saying was capturing the younger one's attention.

"I know," the stranger said. "But I'd like to change that soon. Hopefully." He held out a gloved hand. "I'm Sonic."

Miles dismissed Sonic's comment and ignored the outstretched hand. He didn't want to tell this stranger his real name - after all, no stranger could be trusted and he knew that. So he spoke the false name which he resorted to quite often. After all, why reveal his actual name? It caused possibly more taunting than the reason for his nickname.

"Tails," he said, rolling his eyes a little. "You know... for obvious reasons." Sonic simply nodded. He must have noticed that the fox had an extra tail. Why hadn't he commented on it? Everyone else did. Why not him?

Sonic the hedgehog turned back to the ocean and looked out as if in thought. Tails watched him impatiently. He had come here expecting to hurl himself straight off the cliff with no thoughts before. But this unusual person stood in his way, and though he could easily run past him and over, Tails wanted to hear what he had to say first. After all, if his opinions on Tails' tails was different to everyone else's, what would he think about the fox's plans?

"I won't tell you it's not right," the hedgehog began suddenly, speaking towards the water. "But I will tell you this. You're not alone, you know. I mean, in the way you think and what you had planned." He glanced back at the fox. "I can tell that... you're 'physically' alone."

That stung, though it wasn't Sonic's fault. It was the truth and Tails was reminded of it every day, pretty much. But this time it wasn't a jibe, simply a bunch of true words. Which didn't sting quite so much.

"Everyone messes with the idea of doing the same, you know. I mean, everyone thinks they have the worst problems in the world compared to everyone else. They can be the luckiest person on the planet and still consider it. Even over something small. It just seems like an easy way to avoid unhappiness."

Tails took a hesitant step forwards to hear Sonic more clearly. Nothing he was saying was making him change his mind, but it was interesting to hear all the same.

Sonic grinned slightly as he said the next part, though it wasn't visible to Tails.

"But you know why not everyone is dead? Because, yeah they can think about it, but some people know that it's not the right thing for them to do. They know the trick to the situation, and that is that you're never supposed to act on those considerations. No matter how bad your problems are, or seem to be."

Tails expected the hedgehog to turn around once more, or carry his speech on and make it personal to Tails before moving on to the "life is precious, don't do it" part. But he remained silent and his gaze stayed on the ocean below. The young fox played Sonic's words around in his head. Sure, it was easy for this guy to say them. He was just some ordinary person living an ordinary life. He didn't know what it was like to be made to feel how Tails did. Sonic's words sounded good on paper but in Tails' head the negative outweighed the positive, as always.

"You make it sound so... easy... to be alive," Tails muttered, a little anger escaping in his words at the irritating ease of the hedgehog's words. "Tell me this. How am I supposed to 'seize the day' and 'live life to the fullest' if there's no point? If everything inside me has died? Because I am dead, you do realise that? Dead on the inside, where people can't see. So what's the point?"

A small smile played on Sonic's face as he gently replied.

"Trust me, kid. I can see how you feel. I know that right now you're wishing I'd never been here so you could just get on with it, and I know your legs are just pleading with you to run past me and leap over the edge. But before you do that, I want to suggest something. I want to offer you a choice, an easy one. Instead of dying, why not... come and live with me?"

The words came out of nowhere and startled Tails, leaving him momentarily speechless. Then the confusion and the bizarreness of the situation forced a stumbled reply from his mouth.

"Are you crazy? You don't even know me!"

Sonic grinned fully.

"I know, but didn't I say I wanted to change that soon? Hopefully, anyway."

Tails didn't know what to say or what to do. He certainly wasn't going to take up this eccentric offer and go home with this stranger. Strangers couldn't be trusted, no matter how trustworthy they seemed. Come to think of it, Sonic's "nice guy" appearance could all be an act to lure Tails in and persuade him to go home with him. What he'd want with a young, if intelligent, fox was beyond Tails but it was still a possibility. And of course, the bad points outweighed the good ones. You simply couldn't trust someone that quickly.

So what should he do? Shove past Sonic and continue with his plans? Turn around and run back to where he came from? But it was likely that Sonic would appear at this same spot every night, expecting Tails to turn up.

Sonic could see the fierce concentration in Tails' expression, the wary way he was poised as if ready to run. Sonic took a few small steps closer. Tails didn't move.

"Look," Sonic began. "I'd be lying if I said that everything would be okay if you didn't do it. Things do get rough sometimes. I don't know you and your reasons for coming here with that idea in mind. You're a smart kid, I can see that, but you're still young. And for someone so young to want to resort to this, something real bad must've happened. But I know all this clichéd talk isn't going to change your mind. I could stand here until sunrise trying to convince you not to do it, but what would be the point? You clearly don't want to go back home, wherever that may be, so I offered you that choice. My offer still stands and you've got to choose."

Clouds in the sky shifted and a segment of moon was revealed, illuminating the cliff edge and the sea. Tails was surprised to see that Sonic's quills and body were the unusual shade of deep blue, a strange contrast to his vibrant green eyes which Tails held his gaze with. Did he get teased for that like Tails did for his tails? Not forgetting his name. His lack of family. Lack of friends...

Strangers couldn't be trusted. It didn't matter who they were. They simply _could not_ be trusted. Tails knew this from experience; everyone he had trusted so far had let him down and upset him more than those who treated him negatively from the start. His parents in particular. He was sick of it. Why did the world hate him? He had come here hoping to find an answer or carry out a solution. Was Sonic the exception to the rule? Could he be trusted?

If Tails followed him home, anything could happen. But what was to say it would be something bad? Experience told him that, but Sonic could have encountered anyone on this clifftop. The luckiest person in the world, even. The same things would happen to them. Just because bad luck seemed to be particularly fond of Tails, didn't mean it tagged along everywhere he went.

Maybe Sonic was his answer? His solution?

And what was the worst that could happen if he went and lived with the hedgehog? Sonic could murder him - Tails was all prepared for death anyway. If he ended up letting him down, Tails would return to their meeting place and carry out his original intentions.

Tails broke eye contact and dropped his gaze to the grass beneath his shoes in defeat.

"All right," he whispered, "you win. But I'm only going to give you one night. I want you to prove to me that there's something better than what I came here to do."

The reality of his intentions dawned on him. He felt worthless through no fault of his own. Everyone hated him, everyone haunted him, taunted him. He felt intense rage bubble inside him and spill from him in the form of tears.

"But I swear to God, if you hurt me, I _will_ leap." He lifted his head as tears poured down his face, and he ran past Sonic to the very edge of the cliff, flinging an arm out to indicate the vast ocean. A sudden fierce wind lashed Tails' fur around him and he released his fury into it. "I will toss myself from these very cliffs, and you'll never see it coming," he screamed, his anger exploding and dissolving into sadness, loneliness, desperation. He sobbed as Sonic approached slowly, a warm, _trustworthy_ smile on his face.

"Settle down, buddy," he said quietly. "I know what you're going through."

He allowed the fox to fall against him and continue to cry, privileged that he was the first to be trusted by this tortured individual. Sonic lowered his head.

"After all, ten minutes before you got here, I was gonna jump too."

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><p><em>One year later.<em>

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><p>The two of them stood on the cliff edge, looking out at the sea which was lit up only by the moon. Tails managed a small smile at the sight. What was it he had said before about this view being not as appealing as others? It was amazing, and he was glad for it. The fox turned his head to the left to address Sonic.<p>

"Sonic... I told you my reasons for, you know, coming here last year. What were yours?"

The hedgehog had hoped he would never have to answer this question. But he supposed it was now, or never, and he didn't want to leave Tails in the dark about something he simply wanted to know out of curiosity and concern. He sighed.

"I wasn't lying when I said that even the luckiest guy on the planet could consider it, you know," he began, careful to look at the ground and not at Tails. "I don't consider myself to be the luckiest guy around by any means, but even I know I'm better off than most people. That's why I wanted to help others. But... knowing that people rely on you to help them, and that you can't help everyone... That thought was bugging me. A lot. I knew that if I failed to save even one person, people would hate me for it. And that's a horrible thing to think." He paused briefly.

"But I think the main reason was... I really just wanted a friend."

Tails couldn't help but smile at that.

_So this is how it feels to truly save someone_, he thought with pride.

Sonic raised his head and grinned at his friend.

"So, are you ready?"

Tails felt the distant signs of nervousness flitting around his body, but pushed them down and nodded.

The two of them turned to the sea and began an immediate sprint. They leapt from the very last inches of the cliff edge, sending little bits of rock sprinkling into the water below. Tails could see the dark mass of the water approaching rapidly. Sonic was ahead of him, falling a little quicker. _Just remember what I told you_, Sonic had said before, _don't be afraid_.

There was a crash and a resulting wave of water as Sonic hit the surface. Tails couldn't think about that, though. He had to concentrate on his movements.

A few lost seconds and he would have hit the water, but at the last moment Tails spun his namesakes furiously and glided just above the waves, saving himself. He could see Sonic ahead, and hurried to catch up with him. The hedgehog was running effortlessly along the surface of the sea as if it were a solid road. He turned to throw a triumphant grin at his companion who flew just behind him. Tails smiled back. They each turned and began to head the way they came. Back to the cliff, where they had built their house-workshop residence.

Back home.

_"If you ever end up jumping, just fly at the last minute,"_ Sonic had told Tails shortly after he'd gained the ability to glide through the air. _"Never head to the cliff without some way of being able to head back."_

Tails had remembered these words like life rules. Coming from anyone else, they would have been meaningless. But Sonic wasn't a stranger.

Sonic could be trusted.


End file.
